The Gathering
by St.Owl
Summary: When letters start arriving to some familiar people, unfamiliar friendships are formed- plus a few new and dear friends, all stuck in a predicament they may never escape. Rated T just in case. *Correctly under renovation. Read it if you like, but be sure to come back later!*
1. Me and Us

**A/N:** Alright! First chapter!

I suppose I should preface this with a warning, for anyone reading this who may care: one of the main characters in this fanfiction is gender fluid, so if you're not okay with that, stop reading now. If you are, sweet, keep reading!

I'm sorry for the delay in updating this chapter. I scrapped it because I didn't like how I had been laying it out, and tried to make it a bit more interesting and better written. Do you like this version better, to those of you who have read this before? To the people who haven't, how does this sound? Poke me! (see below.)

Besides that, I only have one thing to say to you: Review review _review._ Please, please, please. It would make my day. Please, tell me something, especially because I'm never going to update this if you don't. Poke me, prod me, correct little grammar mistakes, tell me I'm treating a character wrong, do _something_ and I will love you forever. You, lazy reader who's thinking "whatever"- yes you- get your lazy head off your hands and type a few sentences in that review box. Thank you!

 **Chapter One: Me and Us**

"Oh come on Treecko, dodge!"

Max was ready to tear his hair out in frustration. Five minutes into his Kalos adventure and he'd lost a Pokemon battle. His challenger, a boy of maybe thirteen, laughed and returned his Froakie. "Guess you owe me some money, kid."

Max gave the boy his best scowl, rummaging around in his pocket for some change. He slapped a few dollar bills in the challenger's hand and turned away angrily, right into the face of his sister.

"Did you just give away our lunch money?" she demanded.

"May, it's etiquette. You lose a battle, you pay the winner."  
"Well then, maybe you shouldn't have challenged him! Come on. All you've got is some half-wit Treecko and my Munchlax. A year of training and you've gotten nowhere. Now I had to drag you along to Kalos with me and I've got to play babysitter again!"  
"You didn't 'drag me along'!" Max snapped. "And, for your information, I don't need you taking care of me! I'm traveling with Bonnie and we won't need any help!"  
"From what I've heard, Bonnie has a Dedenne as a starter," countered May. "And you've got a Treecko that can't win a single battle. Oh, yes, you'll be a great team."

The badmouthing became a bit too much for Max's Treecko, and it slammed into May with a Quick Attack. She stumbled backwards angrily, gave Max a final scathing look, and slipped into the crowds.

"Good job, Treecko," said Max tiredly. "I've had quite enough of her."

* * *

"I still don't see why you have to follow me, big brother," Bonnie sighed. "You know I'm fine on my own."

"I can't help worrying!" Clemont said. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt!" Bonnie laughed. "I have Dedenne to protect me!"

At the sound of its name, the electric mouse Pokemon stuck its head out of Bonnie's bag and took a look around.

"Well, yes, but Dedenne isn't very . . . fierce," Clemont explained. Indignant, Dedenne showed off the sparks that flew from its cheeks. "I would feel better if you took one of my Pokemon with you."

"It's okay!" Bonnie said brightly. "I'll find some Pokemon of my own and train them! Then they'll protect me."

Clemont felt like mentioning that she was missing the point, but decided against it.

The two were sitting in a clearing by a river. Night had fallen, but they had a fire lit, which provided suitable light. Bonnie's tent had been pitched, and the two were simply waiting for one of them to give in to the argument that had been raging most of the day.

"I wish you'd at least pick up a starter Pokemon," Clemont said. "Like Chespin! Chespin's cute, isn't it? Or you could use Fennekin- you always liked Serena's- or Froakie? Froakie's nice, you loved Ash's Greninja, didn't you?"

"Greninja's okay," Bonnie replied, "but I'd much rather start with a Pokemon that I already know. Dedenne and I have been friends for years! Isn't that right, Dedenne?"

It grinned and nodded, chirping its name and clambering onto her head.

"Tell you what," sighed Clemont. "I'll spend the night with you, and go back to Lumiose City tomorrow morning. Is it a deal?"

"Fine," said Bonnie crossly.

* * *

Serena wasn't exactly what May was expecting, but in other ways, she went above and beyond.

Her hair was a mousy brown, cropped messily short at the back of her neck. But she hadn't done the same for the front, and two long lengths of bangs reached down across her shoulders. She wore a pink hat, black band around the bottom, and a long red coat covering a light, short dress with black leggings underneath.

The most remarkable thing, though, was the Scizor standing next to her. It looked remarkably like a bodyguard, arms crossed, glaring through its slit-like eyes at passerby. Serena seemed remarkably used to it and settled herself down across from May without batting an eyelash.

For a while, they sipped coffees and stared awkwardly at each other, until finally Serena placed down her cup and looked May straight in the eye. "So, you want to be a Pokemon Performer?"


	2. The Greatest Evil is Ignorance

"Bonnie!" Clemont said angrily, untangling himself from his sleeping bag. "Can I leave you alone for _five minutes_ without you getting yourself into some sort of trouble?"  
As he clambered out, however, he saw an equally sleepy sister emerge from her tent; evidently, she had not been the source of the scream. They discussed for a moment before agreeing to go after it, Clemont releasing his Luxray for better vision in the darkness.

It took a few minutes, but finally they found the smouldering remains of another campfire. Certain that there would be very few people in the woods that night, the siblings assumed that the noise had come from there and entered the camp. However, all they found was a Treeko, patrolling the outside of the tent there.

"Tree _ko!_ " it snapped at them. "Treeko tree. _Ko._ "

At first, they were hesitant to do anything, worried about the screaming person, but just then the Treeko deemed it prudent to send a Bullet Seed at them. Deciding the source was definitely not there, the two made a hasty exit.

They wandered the forest for a bit longer, but it was silent and still; even Luxray could detect nothing in the wilderness. Finally the siblings gave up their search, deciding any problems had been resolved, and went back to bed.

* * *

Colin and Iota were not nearly so lax. After hearing the scream, which was much closer than it had been to Clemont and Bonnie, they combed the forest all over trying to find the source. Not only were they unable to find it, but they happened to stray too close to a Pangoro, which left Colin's Chatot incredibly shaken up and Iota's Totodile very weak. Exhausted, weary, and regretting they'd ever left camp, the two stalked back to their tents and fell asleep again just in time for the sunrise.

Chatot had stayed up, though. He sensed there was something odd about the scream, something they hadn't thought of. It was perfectly possible, of course, that the person who uttered it would have been dragged off. No matter what, though, they would have been fighting (if they were sedated, they wouldn't have screamed), meaning there would be marks. Chatot had been looking out for them, but there were no signs of a scuffle in any reasonable range.

That led him to option number two, the one he was fairly certain of: the scream had been a decoy. But why? Where? Who had done it? It was perfectly possible it had been a Pokemon- at the time of the scream, Chatot wasn't listening very closely, so it was unable to discern it. This meant that, probably, said Pokemon had a trainer, supposing there was malicious intent.

Still, they hadn't _done_ anything, as far as Chatot could tell. In the morning, he decided, he would get his trainer to inspect everything carefully. Perhaps it had been a decoy to rouse them out of camp in order to steal something. What his trainer had of value, though, Chatot did not know.

* * *

Three separate campfires smoldered in three separate camps, as three separate trainers snoozed through the sun. Some were looking for another; others were not. But, in the end, they would come together, and go through a hell of a ride as they did . . .


End file.
